A little bit of sunlight on a cloudy day

Two weeks ago I drove Glenneden Beach to spend the day with my parents. Garrett Jaxson was in the pool with his grandma splashing and working on not sinking. I had decided to go for a quiet walk and enjoy some time alone. And my dad, to the surprise of no one, was on the beach fishing. I decided to stop by and say hello to my daddy-o and see how it was going. (He got skunked every day on the beach) So while dad was sitting on his bucket I decided to roll up my pants for my walk. I put my phone in my back pocket and my camera in the hood of his sweatshirt. About two seconds after I had gotten the first leg up, a high wave came in and scared my dad. So he did what any self respecting fisherman would do and jumped up like a little girl so his shoes wouldn't get wet. And in the process my beloved camera flew out of his hood and into the surf.

I got this camera as a gift from my parents the year that I had Garrett, so it's been through some beatings. It has survived being dropped at the bar, at the garage and in my driveway. It has survived the last six years spending most of it's in buried in the bottom of my purse, being played with by various kids and taking more drunken photos than I care to admit. Up until that day it came out with only a minor blob on the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

And as of today, I can now say it has also survived going for a swim in the pacific ocean. That's right, my camera still works! I'm pretty sure this is the single greatest camera ever. =)

Side note- both photos were taken with my phone. =)

Today's adventure followed by Chocolate Fudge Cake.

Well the good news is that I think I'm finally at the tail end of my sinus infection.

Today I went out to Sheridan with Jaime and Joe while they delivered a new pony to Kay that she is going to use as a therapy pony for handicap kids. It's her life dream and I'm positive that she'll do wonderfully. I'll have to take some photos next time I'm out there and post them, but I wasn't thinking about anything other than the rain and wind while I was out there.


                                                                        Jaime and Joe

Something spooked Happy while Jaime was in the stall and he cornered his head in the stall and kicked out at her. He's usually exceptionally calm, so to see him so scared that he was trembling and kicked out was kind of unnerving. Hopefully the hoof print bruise on her hip heals soon. Other than that minor incident it was a pretty uneventful afternoon at the barn.


                                                                         Garrett, Happy and Jaime

Today I also baked a cake. A delicious Chocolate Fudge Cake. I got the recipe from my wonderful friend Christa. It's so simple and yummy. If I remember right she got it out of a book. And at the request of Bethany, I'll go ahead and post the recipe. =)




Pre-heat your oven to 350.

Next spray a 9x13 baking dish with non stick spray shit

2 cups white sugar
2 cups all purpose flour.

(mix in a medium sized mixing bowl. I just use a fork)



1 cup of butter
1 cup of water
3 - 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Hershey's, but unless you're a snob like Tyler, the brand won't really matter)

(Bring butter and water to a low boil, add the cocoa powder, let it simmer for a minute or so, stir the entire time)
(side note #2, as funny as it is, don't let your kids lick the spoon you use to stir this together. It looks tasty, and it's funny to see their faces, but they REALLY don't appreciate the joke)


1/2 cup of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (is use closer to 2 and a half, because let's be honest, it's hard to go wrong with vanilla)
1 teaspoon baking soda (this you CAN go wrong with, so stick to 1 tsp)
2 large eggs

(I use one of those 2 cup measuring cups to mix this all together, using the above mentioned fork)


Mix the cocoa/butter mix in with the flour and the top off with the egg slurry. mix well

Pour into sprayed 9x13 pan and bake for 25 minutes or so. Just until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.



You can frost this cake, but really it doesn't need it. I top with powdered sugar. Or fresh whipped cream is nice too.

This cake also goes nice with wine. It doesn't really matter what kind. (Mostly because I don't remember what Christa and I were drinking when we made it the first time) but it's delicious. =)